Catching up With GENERAL HOSPITAL's Dominic Zamprogna (EXCLUSIVE)

It wasn’t until GENERAL HOSPITAL’s Dominic Zamprogna had already left the set in May that some of his co-stars realized they’d missed the opportunity to say goodbye. The reason? That “was the last day before we had a two-week break,” the actor, who joined the cast in 2009 as Dante Falconeri, the son that Sonny Corinthos had never known he had, recalled to Soaps In Depth. “So it was a little anticlimactic because everyone was gone... and I think I was last up [to tape]. It wasn’t until the first week back [from hiatus] that everyone started texting me like, ‘Where are you?’ And ‘This sucks!’”

Luckily, Zamprogna had to distract him from missing his GH family an exciting new project: Amazon’s Canadian revenge thriller, TIN STAR. In fact, he’d been working on the Calgary, Alberta, set since March! “I’d booked it when we started negotiations to stay at GH, and [the powers that be] were good with it,” he revealed. “They let me go and do some stuff. And then GH ended and I still had a few episodes [of the other series] left to do.”

To prepare for TIN STAR's action scenes, "Ryan Paevey (ex-Nathan) and I went to the shooting range the week before," said Zamprogna. (Photo Credit: ABC)

Having portrayed a bonafide member of the white-hat club for so long on GH, the actor welcomed the opportunity to try on for size a role like that of TIN STAR’s Estuardo. “I play a badass Guatemalan drug-cartel guy!” he confided. “My second scene on the show was a sex scene with [MAD MEN alum] Christina Hendricks. That was a really fun day.” In addition to becoming pretty proficient with a weapon working on the show, Zamprogna also had to make believable his other action-packed scenes. “I don’t get arrested, but I didn’t get away with it [either],” he teased. “It’s a pretty good role. I speak a lot of Spanish, and I go out in a freakin’ cool way!”

The Canadian native took his time returning Stateside with his family, arriving just prior to the GH Fan Club Weekend. But already, he’d jumped into yet another project. “I’m producing a movie with a buddy: a period piece about Charles Ponzi, the Italian immigrant who in the 1920s came up with an investment scam and then got deported,” revealed Zamprogna, adding that he’ll also star. “It’s fascinating history.”

Being able to create his own work was something that appealed to the ambitious performer. “As an actor, I’ve been lucky since leaving [GH] that I haven’t been waiting around for things. But who knows what the next year could bring?” he reflected. “And so while I’m waiting, I want to be shooting my own projects and possibly directing and acting in my own things.”

Having always wished that Dante would take over his mobster dad’s organization, Zamprogna is enjoying getting to explore darker stories in his post-Port Charles career. But that doesn’t mean he’s done with daytime (or Dante) for good! “I could come back and be the [police] commissioner... I’d do recurring,” he suggested. “That would be cool.”

For more on your favorite GH stars — past and present — keep reading the ABC edition of Soaps in Depth magazine!